The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Cromer Byars is a sweet coming-of-age novel about a young girl who is struggling with the transition from childhood to adulthood, while carrying the added burden of having to care for her younger, mentally impaired brother. Young Sara's life is further complicated when her brother walks out of the house in the middle of the night and disappears. This novel won the John Newberry Medal in 1971 and still rings true for readers of all ages thirty years later.

Sara is an awkward fourteen, unhappy with every aspect of her body, especially her big feet, skinny legs and too-short hair. To make things worse, Sara's older sister, Wanda, is a very beautiful young woman. When Sara tries to talk to her sister about her worries, Wanda has little time to soothe her adolescent angst, unfamiliar, or so it seems, with...